OUTRAGE

I was glad to read the letter from Bobby Grambling in the Nov. 25 edition
in reference to the "pat on the hand" sentence Circuit Judge Donald Stewart
handed down to Dennis Young after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking
charges.

Young was a former member of the Attalla Board of Education. My three
children attend Attalla City schools, and I was outraged to see the
sentence he was given.

The current members of the board are all good upright men and women who
have our children's best interests at heart, so I'm sure they were upset too!

As Grambling said, how can Young go back to his job at the U.S. Postal
Service if he has no license?

I am also glad that our district attorney did not turn his head to the
light sentence that Young got, and I pray that he follows through with his
motion to get Judge Stewart to overturn his decision. It is an insult to
all of us and definitely sends a message to all our children and the entire
community.

I know people who are cancer patients, and I know many people who are
legitimately chronic pain patients who need their medication, but people
like Dennis Young (who is a grown adult) are making it difficult for sick
people who really need their medicine to get it.

It is very unfair. Terminally ill people or people who live in pain daily
can't even get their medical doctors to give them medication. Our law
enforcement has tied the medical doctor's hands and it is because of the
abuse of the medicine by people like Young. Judge Stewart's decision was wrong.

So rule by the law, not by your feelings or because of who you know and who
you are.

Thank you, James Hedgspeth, for keeping your ears and eyes open and for
upholding the law. Please follow through with your motion to correct this
seriously unjust ruling. Protect our children, not adults who choose to do
wrong! People like Judge Stewart who hold positions of authority should
choose to set a good example for our children and our county, not be a bad
example.

Again, thanks to our district attorney for quick attention to correct this
matter.

Sheila Smith Stone

Gadsden